The Proposal
by yugifrozenfan
Summary: Yuya wants to propose marriage to Zuzu, but reality gives him a harsh slap in the face due to the age factoring. Nevertheless, Skip agrees to a trail of 5 or 6 dates to see if they're ready to take the big step. Sora, Skip and Yoko make appearances. Aura is mentioned. T for the gazebo bit.


**AN: I'm back again with another Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc-V story. This time, it's New Year's Eve and Yuya wants to make it special for Zuzu. Also, where does that diamond ring factor into all this? Dub names apply, don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc-V.**

"All right, that'll be $12.40", the cashier said in regards to the ring Yuya was buying. As Yuya fumbled with the money, the cashier decided to strike up a conversation with the boy. "Is the ring for a special someone?" he inquired.

"Yep", Yuya nodded, still invested in getting the money out.

"First crush, eh?"

"Huh-uh", a few more fumbles later, Yuya produced the amount of money required and the cashier was greeted with the $12.40 on the counter. Transaction completed, Yuya left the shop. It was New Year's Eve, and the reason for the ring was because Yuya was ready to take his relationship with Zuzu to the next level. Ever since last Christmas, he thought about proposing to her but his common sense talked him out of going through it because it didn't matter if he was ready or not, what mattered was the fact that she needed to be ready as well because it couldn't be a one-sided street.

Meanwhile, on the way home, he saw Sora. It looked like he was in the middle of something so he edged onward, figuring if he made home quick enough, he could avoid Aura. Luckily, Sora perked up and saw him so he called out to him.

"Hey, Yuya!" he shouted. Yuya stopped and waved.

"Hey, Sora!"

"Got 5 minutes?"

"Yes"

"Good. So get over here and talk with me", Yuya obeyed and went to the spot where Sora was at, hoping to buy himself some time to avoid Aura. "Whatcha got in that box? Chocolate?" he inquired. Yuya chuckled.

"Nope. It's something else", he said.

"What?"

"A ring for Zuzu", the second the words left Yuya's mouth, Sora put two and two together and instantly got what Yuya was planning.

"Gonna pop the question?"

"Yep. After I got permission of course."

"Yuya, did you really think that through? You're supposed to get permission BEFORE you get the ring!" Sora stated. Yuya gulped. He was right on the money. While Yoko had consented to Yuya's plan to propose, Skip was a whole other story.

"Both parties?"

"BOTH parties", Sora said that last part with emphasis. Yuya gulped again. "Yuya, you already got the ring. So, ask him after class today", Sora stated, trying to be more helpful.

"Okay, I will!" Yuya saidl, steeling himself in the process. He knew that being a single father, Skip was highly protective of Zuzu and would move high water for her but Yuya also considered that since Skip and his family had been good friends with Yuya's family even before Yuya and Zuzu even existed, Skip going far as to dedicate the You Show Duel School after his father, he figured it would be easy to convince him, right? Wrong!

"You want my permission to do WHAT with Zuzu?!" Skip had asked. Yuya took Sora's advice and told him point blank and with brutal honesty that he wanted his permission to court Zuzu and maybe even propose to her after class. "I don't know, Yuya. Aren't you two a little young to actually start dating?" he asked again, only with a more gentleness to it. The thing there was Skip had a point. Yuya was ultimately too young to even consider a proposal.

"Well, you do have a point there, Principal. However, the thing is: I love her", Yuya said with heartfelt sincerity. Even when his dark side had been unleashed during the tournment, he felt Zuzu might be able to keep that darkness in check, hopefully.

"Well, you seem totally sincere so this is what I'm going to do: I'll give my consent for you two to date but if she comes home with a ring on her finger, I'm not gonna be a happy camper", Skip said.

"How many dates before I can put a ring on her finger?"

"Say like 5 or 6 dates."

"That makes sense." The two men didn't realize it but they had a listener in the wings next to the room, her heart fluttering at the conversation that had occurred. As Yuya turned on his heel to leave the classroom as Skip needed to lock up, he saw a hand reach out and grab his shirt, stopping him. "Zuzu?" he asked.

"Yuya? Did you mean everything you said in the room?"

"You heard everything?"

"Well, you don't exactly have the quietest voice", she said. Yuya nodded before confirming he met every word, saying he couldn't propose until after they go on five or six dates. Zuzu agreed and the two went their seperate ways for the time being before their first date.

The first date had arrived quickly, almost too quickly to be exact and Yuya wondered if mysterious forces were at work to speed up time to ensure he went on his date with Zuzu quicker. Yoko had bought him a suit, although he didn't want to look overdressed for the occasion but she had insisted. After all, mothers knew best. As he was about to walk out the door, Yoko remembered something.

"Yuya, did you get the flowers?!" Yuya stopped cold. First date and already he was screwing things up.

"Don't worry, mom! I'll get them", he reassured her. Sure, his allowance would be sobbing at this point, considering he spent $12.40 on an engagement ring but Yoko had refinanced his allowance to allow for jaunts around town like this one.

"But, what time were you supposed to pick her up?"

"7. I'll leave earlier so I have time to pick up some flowers", he said as he flew out the door.

"They grow up so fast", Yoko mumbled to herself. Meanwhile, Yuya shot down the street to the nearest flower shop so he could procure some of Zuzu's favorite flowers, which were, of course, roses. Having acquired the roses, he made the rest of the trek to Zuzu's house.

Having reached the house, he hestiated for a brief moment before steeling himself and knocking on the door. However, instead of Zuzu, it was Skip. It was agreed upon the two before this that he would intercept Yuya each time he called on Zuzu for each date. "So, where are you two going for date no. 1? Hopefully, some place child-friendly", he said, leering at the boy.

"I figured the first date would be the average restraunt. Italian, to be exact. She does like Italian, right?" Yuya inquired. Skip thought for a second before remembering.

"Spaghetti and Pizza are her preferred favorites", he said.

"Got it", Yuya said. Just then, Zuzu appeared on the edge of the stairs, wearing the most elegant dress imaginable. "Zuzu, you look beautiful", he complimented as he tugged at his tie before offering her the flowers, which she took.

"10:05, Yuya. If she's not back by 10:05, I'm in the car and hunting you down", Skip said with such seriousness that Yuya wasn't sure if he was legitmately joking or not.

"Yes", Yuya said before Skip wished the kids a good night and sent them on their way. He turned to Zuzu. "Was he joking when he said that he would hunt me down if I didn't have you back by 10:05?" he inquired.

"Yes and no. 10:05's my curfew but he wouldn't go to that extreme. He'll usually just call if I'm not back by that time", Zuzu said.

"Thank god for that", Yuya breathed a sigh of relief before steering his feet towards the restraunt.

The restraunt Yuya had chosen was one of those variety restraunts. While it did serve Italian, it also served American and Japanese cusine as well. You could order a hamberger and no one would bat an eye. As the restraunt was a resveration only, it was Yuya who approached the counter. "I have a resveration", he told the person.

"Name?"

"Yuya Sakaki", the person in charge scanned the list three times before looking up again.

"There's no Yuya Sakaki on the list", the person said. Yuya's brow furrowed until he remembered that the night before, he told Yoko what his plan was. She had said she was reserve the spot and her and Skip would split the bill.

"Try Yoko Sakaki", he told the person again. This time, they struck gold. The greeter gathered two menus and escorted the teens to their table.

"Your waiter will be here shortly", the greeter said and walked off. The two sat down and scanned their menu. From the looks of it, it was seperate dinners for both, nothing along the lines of having a big plate for two. When the waiter appeared, Yuya steeled himself and decided to ask the question.

"You guys do giant plates?" he asked. The waiter tapped his pen and said they did. "Okay, one big plate of spaghetti", Yuya placed the order.

"Wow", the waiter said as he wrote down the order. "You sure you going to be able to eat all of that?" he inquired.

"Nope but it's a good thing I have someone to share it with", he said, looking in Zuzu's direction. She blushed. The waiter gave an estimated delivery time of 45 minutes to an hour and asked if they wanted any drinks while they waited. "Water for me", he answered.

"I'll have the same", Zuzu answered.

"All righty, I'll be back with your drinks and depending on how fast the kitchen is, your food", the waiter said and went to relay their order to the kitchen staff and procure the waters. Neither teen said anything, they just sat there. Sure, they were nervous and all but this was their first time with just the two of them, no Sora and no parents. Yuya was too struck by Zuzu's beauty to even open his mouth, which was a stark contrast to how he was normally. He wasn't even aware that the food was even there until Zuzu alerted him.

"Yuya? YUYA!"

"Huh?"

"Food's here", his date had picked up her fork and began to chow down. Yuya shrugged and picked up his own fork and followed her lead. It was a lot of work to filter it into their mouths and Yuya got a little sneaky and snuck only a part of one noodle into his mouth, Zuzu took the other part and the two worked towards the middle where their lips touched. Zuzu blushed and pulled away, leaving Yuya to suck up the noddle.

The rest of the date went smoothly. After they ate, the two lovebirds strooled through Paradise Park and there wasn't a cloud in the night sky, perfect setting for a moonlit stroll. "It's all so magical", Zuzu murmured as they came into a gazebo to rest. "Yuya, quit staring at me! You've been eying me since we started walking the park and to be fair, it's really starting to worry me!"

"Sorry. I was just looking at your eyes. Anybody ever tell you that you have really beautiful eyes?" Yuya asked while he turned away in embarassment. Zuzu blushed at him complienting her eyes. Then something really weird came over Yuya. He didn't know what that feeling was but it was possessing him to do this. He scooped Zuzu up and placed her on the gazebo floor. He then climbed on top of her, stroked her hair, cupped her face and stared into her eyes. "You're so beautiful", he said before pegging her lips in a kiss. Time seemed to stop itself as the teens kissed on the gazebo floor. While both wished this moment could last forever, reality had set in when his duel disk went off. Yuya grabbed it from his pocket and checked the time. Quarter to 10. "I gotta drop you off back to your place!" he announced as he hoisted Zuzu up from the gazebo floor. He waited for his date to brush off her dress so they could walk home.

"You wanna tell me WHAT exactly possessed you to do that?" Zuzu asked as they walked back to the city.

"I don't know! This weird feeling came over me when the two of us were in the gazebo and next minute, we were kissing on the floor!" Yuya said.

"Was it your darkness?"

"No, I was in control", he admitted.

"Well, you'd wouldn't compliment me on my looks if it was your darkness", Zuzu said. "Although, they WERE getting a little bit excessive. You may also wanna cut back on the staring. I was getting a little weirded out by it." He made a mental checklist of things to improve on for subsequent dates: 1. Make sure not to excessively compliment Zuzu's beauty & 2\. Cut back on staring at her as it gave off bad vibes. Finally, they arrived at Zuzu's house. "Good night, Yuya Sakaki", Zuzu said.

"Good night, Zuzu Boyle", Yuya repeated in earnest before the two kissed again and he doubled back to go home.

Figuring that the first date was a little too adult to handle, the next couple dates were just your typical teen affairs, like minature golf (Zuzu bested him on that), bowling (Yuya won), movies and just typical jaunts around town, including a water park. However, date 4 would be the most special one. Paradise City was hosting some kind of ballroom dance thing that Zuzu wanted to attend, a one-time deal. Like before, Yuya got on his finest suit, was questioned by Skip as to wear they were going and a couple minutes later, Yuya and Zuzu , also in her finest dress, were right at the door of the place where the shindig was held. They steeled themselves and went inside the building.

The inside itself was really nice to look at. There were tables to rest at and a buffet, free of charge, all bordering a dance floor as big as the eye could see. "May I have this dance?" Yuya offered, extending his arm to hers.

"You may", Zuzu took his arm and let Yuya lead her to the dance floor and surprisingly, Yuya pulled off a really mean waltz, which surprised even Zuzu, as she thought that since Yuya's only attribute was dueling, he wasn't good at anything else but throughout the first four dates, he surprised her with his prowess at miniature golf, bowling and even ballroom dancing. Finally, after the affair ended and everyone was going home, that same feeling came across Yuya again and as soon they were out of the public view, Yuya pinned Zuzu near a lampost and kissed her again.

"Yuya, you're really scaring me here. What's going on?" Zuzu asked, worried.

"Zuzu, I'm in love with you", Yuya admitted, getting straight to the point. Zuzu looked at him. His confession essentially forced her to reexamine their previous dates, even though she heard the conversation between Skip and him after Duel school ended, in particular, the bit at the park where they kissed in the gazebo. She was also aware of her own feelings for the boy and was planning on confessing to him only to be pleasantly surprised that Yuya himself made the first move in confessing his own feelings for her so she figured the best move would be to reciporate.

"Me too, Yuya", she said before they kissed again.

Date 5 had arrived, abiet too quickly. Yuya was pacing around his room, wondering if he was ready to pop the question after only five dates. Sure, Skip gave him an extra date but he was running out of ideas of where to take Zuzu to. He even had a card he was going to give her as well. "Yuya, quit pacing or you're going to burn a hole in the floor!" Sora said.

"Sorry, Sora. It's just that I don't think I'm ready!"

"Cold feet? Not surprised one bit. First time jitters are understandable when one prepares for the next big thing before marriage."

"I'm not even sure why I should be freaking out over this. It's not like we're marrying or something!"

"Yuya, from the looks of it, you two might as well tie the knot anyway. Mostly everyone can see you two are attracted to one another", Sora said with a little chuckle to his voice. Yuya took in Sora's advice and realized he was right. The advice was essentially boiling down to the fact that he was just afraid of the outcome and he shouldn't be. One thing his father taught him was always take a rejection in stride because just because he might be ready, that doesn't mean SHE will be ready.

"Sora, thanks for the pep talk. I needed it", Yuya said, that spark returning. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got a question for hopefully, the future Mrs. Sakaki", he said before flying out of the room and out of the house.

Zuzu was walking in the park to locate the gazebo. Her text from Yuya had said to meet him at the gazebo for he had a surprise for her, but refused to elaborate further. As she reached the gazebo, she wondered what the surprise would be for when she stepped inside, Yuya wasn't there. "Yuya?" she inquired.

"I've been waiting for you, Zuzu", Yuya said, stepping out from the right side of the gazebo.

"What's this surprise you have for me?" she inquired. He said nothing but searched his deck for one very specific card in particular. When he found it, he held out one copy for her to see. It was Preformapal Melodious Diva. Tears formed in Zuzu's eyes as she got the meaning the card in an instant as Yuya had another one intended for him. Essentially, he was asking if they could be together. She took the card and added it to her deck, hoping that was the surprise. It wasn't as the actual surprise was in that box he was holding out to her. To say she was surprised was an understatement.

"Of course, this IS a little too soon", Yuya sheepishly admitted.

"You think?"

"But", he said as he got down on one knee and opened the box to reveal a ring inside it. He held the box with the ring outside. "Zuzu, will you marry me at some point in the future?" Fortunately, Zuzu already had an answer to that question and she had given herself time to think about it just in case those 5 dates did climax in a future proposal.

"Yes."

 **AN: That's it! That's it! For those who are wondering about Yuya's behavior during the first date, keep in mind the concept of the show: The romance angle is either downplayed or implied so naturally, Yuya would have no concept of "date behavior" (ie: showering Zuzu with compliments, staring at her excessively) if he actually went on a date with Zuzu. Also, The "Preformapal Melodious Diva" card at the end is a reference to another Yu-Gi-Oh! story (GX, to be more specific) that I read wherein in the lead-up to the marriage proposal, the girlfriend is presented with a card that represents the merging of their deck archetypes with the subtle implication the hero kept a duplicate. Hopefully, these clear up any question you guys might have. R &R!**


End file.
